


In Trouble

by st_mick



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm just sort of making this up as I go, M/M, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Not for Gwen fans, Slight dubcon surrounding the YTNW, at least I think so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:00:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_mick/pseuds/st_mick
Summary: An unexpected pregnancy strains the bond between Jack and Ianto.  But it's the reactions of the mated pair and those around them that may put everything they hold dear to the test.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Rory Williams/Amy Pond
Comments: 153
Kudos: 167





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Engineer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Engineer/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Omega part 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155124) by [The_Engineer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Engineer/pseuds/The_Engineer). 



> So I've been hanging out, waiting for my characters to tell me what happens next in TWO separate fics, and then I read "The Omega part 2" by The_Engineer and this story started spinning around in my brain. In hopes that it helps the other words flow, I'm pursuing this. Only the greatest respect for The_Engineer - please read that story, if you have a chance, to see where the bones of this one came from (and simply because it's a great story :D).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I don't normally do the warnings, but I do put warnings in the tags. Please check them out before proceeding.
> 
> Also, "in trouble" is an old fashioned way of talking about unexpected pregnancies - at least in the boonies where I grew up.

_Introduction_

This is an a/b/o AU. Both male and female humans can bear children, though it is a bit more rare for men to do so. The birthing partner is called the bearing parental.

Alphas make up about ten percent of the population and are the natural leaders, and are looked up to and respected. They are not necessarily aggressive (no more so than any other human, at any rate). Alpha bearing parentals can only give birth to betas and, in rare instances, omegas.

Betas are the most prevalent, making up about seventy-five percent of the population. They can be leaders or followers, and while they can (and do) mate with alphas and omegas, they do not sense them (or one another) as strongly as alphas and omegas do. Beta bearing parentals produce betas and omegas, though betas are of course more prevalent.

Omegas make up the remaining fifteen percent of the population. They can be leaders or followers, but are most likely to strike their own path in an effort not to abuse the power they wield. Omega bearing parentals can produce betas and other omegas, but they are the only ones physiologically able to produce alphas. Because of this, they are highly regarded within the culture.

Pregnant omegas are practically revered.

While pairings are not the dominant/submissive relationships we have come to expect from a/b/o worlds, there is an instinctual “marking” that occurs, whereby one establishes the bond with his or her mate by biting the back of their neck. The wound heals almost instantly, but a mark is left. The scent of the one marked changes subtly, showing they are mated and bonded.

While any combination can mate (and do, quite happily), the most powerful attractions are between alphas and omegas. Likewise, the strongest bonds are between these two. Alphas always do the marking, and omegas are always marked. Betas can go either way.

Rejected bonds are exceedingly rare – in this universe, people tend to mate for life. Marked mates are held in special esteem – beta and omega alike – because of a physiological vulnerability.

For the marked, losing a mate can be fatal. The marked mate can survive the death of their partner, though some of the more frail have been known to follow their mate in death within days. But in the rare instance that a bond is rejected by the marking mate, the mark fouls. First the wound reopens, then becomes infected. The marked mate rarely survives being rejected.

In this AU, Toshiko, Owen, and Gwen are betas. Jack is an alpha (of course). And Ianto is an omega.

***


	2. Chapter 2

The team trudged back into the Hub, looking and feeling a bit bedraggled. They’d had a close call. More than one, actually. Martha had been captured and infected with the terrifying Reset drug. They’d dropped her off at her hotel so she could rest before coming back in for a full workup, to be sure she was in the clear.

And Copley had tried to shoot Owen. Ianto had long ago decided that if anyone was going to be shooting Owen, it should be him. (And he still owed John Hart for his pot shot). He had noticed that Copley wasn’t showing his hands, and was concerned that he might be concealing something. Almost too late, he saw the telltale glint of light off of gunmetal.

He’d tackled Owen to the ground, feeling a searing pain in his arm as he landed on top of the doctor. Enraged that Copley had tried to kill one of his people, and had succeeded in shooting his mate, Jack shot the man dead.

With shaking hands, Owen had patched up the minor flesh wound in Ianto’s arm. It hadn’t even required stitches, and Ianto counted himself extremely fortunate. Jack would as well, once he calmed down. For now he was seething with rage at the Pharm, its experiments, and what Copley had tried to do to the team. Ianto was just glad Jack’s rage was not pointed at him. He’d always hated that, but their bond made it particularly uncomfortable, now.

Once they handed the whole mess over to UNIT for cleanup and disposal (and prosecution), the team headed back to the hub. Jack ordered Owen to give Ianto another look. Knowing it wasn’t worth the battle to resist, Ianto rolled his eyes and followed Owen into the med-bay.

Owen cleaned and re-bandaged Ianto’s arm, then got out the scanner, for good measure.

“Owen, all I did was tackle you,” Ianto huffed.

Owen shook his head. “Sorry, Teaboy, but I’m not bearding _that_ lion tonight.” He glanced at the scanner, running it over Ianto’s body, merely as a matter of course. Then his eyes widened and he muttered, “ _Fuck_.”

“What?” Ianto was startled by Owen’s suddenly serious demeanor as the doctor scanned him again. After the third scan, he began to feel a trickle of fear. “Owen, what’s wrong?”

Owen looked up from his scanner, and his face broke into a joyous smile. It was more terrifying than the concerned scanning. “Ianto, mate. You’re up the duff!”

“I’m… I’m what?” Ianto felt himself go faint. “What are you talking about? I’m…” he lowered his voice. “I’m on birth control!”

“Yeah, well,” Owen chuckled. “Didn’t work, did it?” He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. “This is fantastic!”

Ianto was trying to remain calm. “Owen, it’s really not. I can’t say for certain that Jack bonded to me on purpose. He hates the word couple, for Christ’s sake. What do you think his reaction is going to be?” He ran a hand through his hair as Owen’s face became more serious. “Just… Just keep this to yourself, all right? I need to wrap my head around it before I even think about how to tell Jack.”

“How to tell me what?” Jack asked, walking quickly down the stairs. He looked from Owen, who still seemed rather pleased and excited, to Ianto, who looked petrified. “What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly concerned. He could feel Ianto’s fear and trepidation through their bond.

Ianto could not find his voice. He looked to Owen, then back to Jack. “It… It would seem that...” he cleared his throat. “I’m pregnant, Jack.”

“WHAT?” Jack shouted, startled. He sucked in a breath, finally understanding the possessive feelings he had been struggling with for weeks, now. Ianto could hardly leave his sight without Jack feeling nervous and antsy. He’d taken to watching the younger man on CCTV, stalking him through the hub, just to keep an eye on him.

Owen stepped between Jack and Ianto, willing to face down even the angriest alpha to protect a pregnant omega. It was practically hardwired into all of them. “He’s almost three months gone, by the look of it. Very healthy baben in the oven.” He could no longer hide the grin that was overtaking his face.

Jack began to pace. “How did this happen, Ianto? I thought you were on birth control!”

“I was! I am!” Ianto protested. “You watch me take it every morning after molesting me for coffee.”

Jack stopped and stared at his mate as a different kind of panic trickled across their bond. “Owen, any damage from taking birth control or drinking coffee this far into the pregnancy?”

Owen waved the scanner at Ianto and grinned again. “Nope. Like I said. Perfectly healthy.”

“But you haven’t had any morning sickness,” Jack frowned.

“Well that’s not true, is it?” Owen pointed out. “He’s been complaining about being queasy, ever since the space whale.”

“Haven’t we all?” Jack asked, but he realized the timing was about right, and Ianto had never been particularly squeamish, before. “Oh, Goddess. You’ve been in the field, all this time. Pregnant!” he was shouting again.

“I had no reason to suspect that I was. This is as much a shock to me as it is you. Can we calm down and talk about this, please?” Ianto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He felt complete chaos along the bond – Jack was freaking out. There was fear and panic and not a little bit of anger.

Ianto was unable to detect even the slightest indication of a positive reaction to the news. It hit him like a runaway weevil, taking his breath away.

Behind his bluster, Jack was freaking out. His mate, pregnant! He wanted to drag Ianto down to his bunker and worship him, then fuck him senseless, then talk to his child, whispering the secrets of the universe through his beloved’s skin. But he couldn’t do that. This was Torchwood. He had case reports to write up and a new field rota to design, if Ianto wasn’t going to be in the field.

And he was scared. He lived in constant terror of something happening to his mate, anyway. He’d lost him once already, and he was not eager for it to happen again, any time soon. Today had underlined that, even before the pregnancy was discovered. Now there was a child to consider. He didn’t want to screw this up. Lucia had taken Melissa and run. They weren’t bonded, but it had still hurt.

Other than what had happened during the Year, Jack had not bonded with a mate in almost a century. That had been his wife, who had died in childbirth, and it had been devastating. Ianto was only his second bonded mate in his long life, and he was not sure how to navigate this. He knew he should comfort his mate, but he was immobilized.

And the fear was making him angry.

“Don’t tell me to calm down. I can’t even look at you, right now. How could you let this happen?” he demanded, rounding on Ianto. He tried to pull back when he saw the younger man blanch before his own anger ignited.

“Me?” Ianto replied. “I did everything I could to prevent it. And I suppose this tells me how you really feel about it.” He jumped down from the table, refusing to let Jack or Owen see how weak he felt, in the knees. Jack would come around.

He had to.

He _had_ to.

In the meantime, Ianto wasn’t about to be bullied. “You know what? You can fuck off, Jack.”

He was up the stairs and brushing past Tosh and Gwen before Jack could formulate a reply. “Ianto,” he called after his mate, instantly regretting his behavior.

“Nice going, ya twat,” Owen muttered, setting his scanner aside and walking away from Jack.

At the top of the stairs, he stopped in front of Toshiko. “You two hear everything?”

“Pretty much,” she answered. She shot a disgusted look in Jack’s direction. “I’ll go after Ianto and calm him down. Jack will come around.”

“Will he?” Owen frowned. He was quite angry with Jack, at the moment. He’d never even _heard_ of anyone ever treating a pregnant omega the way Jack had just treated Ianto.

“Of course he will. He’s scared, is all. It’s a lot to take in, especially as Ianto’s been in the field, all this time.” She patted Owen’s arm. “Jack’s just freaking out about all the things that could have happened, up until now.”

“I guess.”

Tosh went off to find Ianto, and Owen turned to Gwen, who had gone back to her desk, looking thoughtful. He couldn’t say why, but her expression made him uneasy. He chalked it up to Jack’s asinine behavior and went to his workstation to start brushing up on male pregnancies.

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some history, from Ianto's perspective.

Ianto had been in the archives for more than an hour, now, trying to calm himself. Tosh had sat with him for a while, reassuring him that Jack would be over the moon, once he stopped freaking out. He appreciated her efforts, and God, how he wanted to believe her. But even now that they were bonded, he still didn’t feel certain of Jack’s affections. Perhaps they had too much history.

No, that wasn’t fair. Most of the time, Ianto was fairly confident that Jack loved him, though he knew Jack would never utter the words. Their bond had helped. But Ianto was still too unsure of himself. He still blamed himself for what had happened with Lisa, for how he had betrayed Jack. The residual damage from the rejection of that bond, which he had barely survived, meant he had difficulty trusting this new bond.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jack. He did. With his life. But a rejected bond… It tended to leave damage that couldn’t always be mended. For Ianto, it had made him incapable of fully trusting something that should have been absolutely unshakeable, but he now knew was not. Bonds were meant to be for life. Rejection was so uncommon as to be practically unheard of. And yet, it had happened to him.

It had happened once, and now Ianto was bonded to someone who had already left the team without a word, for months. Someone who did not like to be tied down. Someone who had only been bonded once before, in almost two hundred years of existence. Ianto wasn’t certain he’d be confident in Jack’s level of commitment, even without the damage he’d suffered from Lisa’s rejection.

He shuddered at the memory. He hadn’t even realized it had happened, at first. But when the Cyberman finally took over, it rejected the bond as irrelevant. It had served its purpose and was no longer needed.

The bond was the only reason Ianto had survived Canary Wharf.

He had been captured, then secured in a conversion unit. They were upgrading whole bodies, so they had to “cleanse” them, first. The pain had been excruciating as the delivery fold running along the side of his womb had been breached. He had watched in helpless horror as his and Lisa’s beautiful child had been extracted from his body and the breach re-sealed by some sort of healing beam.

Ianto ran a hand along his abdomen and swiped away the tears that were falling as the memory of the forced cyber-abortion made it difficult for him to breathe. He should have died that day. But the Doctor had opened the void before the conversion could continue.

Ianto sometimes cursed the Doctor. Two minutes earlier, and their child would have been safe. Two minutes later, and Ianto would have died, along with all of the others. Even now, there were some days when he honestly didn’t know which he would have preferred, given the choice.

The shadow side of omegas being revered for their pregnancies was that most had difficulty surviving a failed pregnancy. Due to the high level of empathy omegas possessed, they strongly felt both the joy and reverence society directed at them. And while that same society did not judge them for failed pregnancies, most omegas took it on as their duty to deliver healthy children into the world. So much so that modern medicine could not determine how much of the low survival rate was physical, and how much was empathically psychological.

It took an exceptionally strong alpha (or sometimes, though more rare, a beta) to guide their omega mate through such devastation, no matter the origin.

Miscarriages were less likely to claim an omega than a stillbirth, but what had happened at Canary Wharf was something different, entirely. Ianto did not think he was as delicate as all that, but he was willing to admit that the trauma of the abortion would have killed him, if Lisa had not asserted herself, despite her partial conversion.

Or perhaps, in retrospect, _because_ of it. She was still enough herself that their bond had held, but Ianto could later see that the cyber-tech had been controlling her, even as she had held him steady and, through manipulation and the strategic use of guilt over their lost child, controlled him.

Had the cyberwoman been killed before the tech rejected Lisa’s bond with Ianto, he would have been fine. Relatively speaking. He would have grieved as any other omega who had lost their alpha. But the rejection occurred before her death.

In his fury, Jack had sent Ianto home after his betrayal. It was a full day before it occurred to him to have Ianto checked out. He and Owen were shocked to find Ianto at death’s door when they came to look him over. Ianto had referred to Lisa as his girlfriend, not his mate. They had assumed the two had been mated, given Ianto’s determination to save her, but it took them a while to realize that there had been a rejection rather than just a death that dissolved the bond.

Jack had blamed himself for letting his anger get the better of him. They’d almost lost Ianto because of it. The infection raged for days, and Owen had all but given up hope. But then Jack did an extraordinary thing. He used his influence as an alpha to stabilize Ianto. Nothing binding or inappropriate; just the strategic use of his pheromones and a series of bites to Ianto’s shoulder that mimicked marking without interfering with the healing of Lisa’s rejected mark.

It had been enough for Ianto’s system to stabilize, and to allow the antibiotics to clear up the infection coursing through his system. Once he was well enough to be fully debriefed, they discovered the extent of the abuse and control Ianto had endured. In light of everything, he was easily forgiven and welcomed back onto the team, once his health was recovered.

Ianto shook himself out of his reverie and sighed, running a hand over his face and trying to center himself. No use in conjuring old ghosts when current demons had to be dealt with. Perhaps coffee would help.

For everyone else, at any rate.

Ianto sighed again. Then a small smile played at his lips as he lovingly ran a hand over his abdomen again. No coffee for six months was a very small price that he’d willingly pay. He headed back to the main part of the hub, hopeful that Jack would come around.

***


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And some of Jack's memories...

Jack’s thoughts had taken a path similar to Ianto’s, remembering what the younger man had been through, and regretting once more how his harsh reaction had been uncalled for. He could only imagine the fear a new pregnancy, particularly an unexpected one, must inspire, given how the other had ended…

Jack tossed down his pen and swore. How could he have been so thoughtless? His fear was nothing to what his mate must be feeling. Jack well remembered the long process of Ianto’s recovery after the cyberwoman’s rejection of Lisa’s bond with Ianto. They had grown closer during that time, understanding one another better.

From there, it had taken a long time, but Jack and Ianto eventually got together. They danced around one another for quite a while after Ianto recovered, but were ultimately unable to ignore the attraction between them. In the beginning, they’d fooled around quite a bit – Jack had insisted on no strings, and he knew that Ianto had been too terrified of a new bond to argue – but during the Year, the Master somehow discovered Jack’s attachment to Ianto.

It took him nine months, but the Master eventually captured the team. He threw Ianto into a room with Jack and then left them alone for a disconcertingly long time. Tish Jones brought them food once a day, but otherwise they were left to their own devices. It took three weeks for Jack to fully recover from the many deaths he had endured.

During the day, he and Ianto tried to keep up their strength – usually by some sort of calisthenics. There was one pillow and blanket, and the room was kept quite cold, so they huddled close for warmth and comfort. When Jack wasn’t in tall-tale-telling mode to pass the time, they spoke in whispers, close to one another’s ears, to avoid being heard by the equipment they knew was monitoring them.

Jack knew they were being lulled into some sort of complacency, but it was difficult not to enjoy the reprieve. He knew it wouldn’t last. He just wondered if the insane Time Lord’s patience would fray before whatever he was hoping would happen occurred.

Both men were too weak to even consider sex, but the whispers had turned to kisses more often than not, and snogging Ianto was an exceptionally pleasant way to pass the time. So it came as a complete surprise when, one afternoon about six weeks into their isolation, they realized their food had been spiked.

That day had been a misery. Neither man was inclined to give the Master (and whoever else was watching) a show, but the effects of the drug did not abate with the slow passing of the hours. They managed to grit their way through and were relieved when they woke the next day to find the effects had worn off.

Which simply meant the dose was doubled with that day’s food.

The third day, they refused to eat.

On the fourth, Jack insisted that Ianto eat. It had broken his heart to ignore Ianto’s tears of humiliation as he provided the relief the younger man so desperately needed. Jack had felt those tears fall heavy on the back of his head and neck as he held Ianto down and sucked him off.

On the fifth day, the Master strode into the room, scolding them for their 'bashfulness' as two soldiers held each prisoner. He made a huge show of taking down the camera in the corner before injecting both men with some sort of compound.

This wasn’t the Viagra (or equivalent) that they’d been given during the previous days. Well, not _just_ that. As near as Jack could figure, there was also MDMA, or something similar that was obviously meant to lower their inhibitions. And there seemed to be _a lot_ of both. Within the hour, they couldn’t keep their hands off one another. By the end of the day they’d shagged each other raw, and still couldn’t stop.

It was after lights out that Jack had Ianto pinned beneath him, whimpering with pain and lust and want and _need_. He was balls-deep in the younger man, growling at the heat coursing through his veins and desperate to take more. At some level, he did realize their captors were pumping something into the room to keep them at one another; he just couldn’t fathom why.

And then, it happened.

“Please, Jack,” Ianto whispered. Jack would never know what Ianto was begging for, he only knew in the most primal part of what was left of his mind what he needed Ianto to be begging for.

He shoved into his lover and bit down on his nape, hard enough to draw blood.

Ianto had stiffened in panic for a moment before melting into Jack, hissing a low, sultry, “Yesssss,” before they became carried away by the intensity of their bonding.

They were left alone for several days, not even fed. They spent the time enjoying their new bond, reveling in the thoughts and feelings that they could share. On the fourth morning, each man woke manacled to the wall behind him, facing the other. Jack realized with horror that this was what the Master had wanted – for them to mate and bond, so they could feel one another’s pain and horror as the torture resumed.

It was during the next horrific weeks that Jack had learned just how strong Ianto Jones was. How resilient. How focused on keeping Jack stable and comforted. He had the ability to lock away his own pain and anguish, not allowing Jack to feel it, while at the same time he was a constant source of comfort and warmth each time Jack returned from the cold darkness that swallowed him with each death.

Ianto lasted almost two weeks before he succumbed to the Master’s attentions. Jack was reminded of the pain of losing a mate, but he only had to endure the pain for three weeks before Martha Jones completed her mission, he destroyed the paradox machine, and the Doctor defeated the Master.

***


	5. Chapter 5

When Jack returned from the Year, he’d had every intention of avoiding Ianto, despite the fact that he had returned, mostly for him. Upon seeing the younger man, the echoes of their bond from the Year rattled him so completely that he practically threw himself at Gwen in the next moment, only to learn that she was engaged.

Betas had it so easy. They could resist the urge to mark and be marked, and do it at their convenience. Have a wedding. Come back from the honeymoon, marked.

Must be nice.

No, Jack wasn’t fooling himself. He much preferred the magnetism that had ultimately made it impossible to _not_ mark Ianto. It was wild and primal and made him feel so _alive_.

He’d immediately regretted being so forward with Gwen, particularly when he realized that _he_ was already (still) bonded to Ianto. He just needed to regain the younger man’s trust so they could re-establish it.

So he courted Ianto. Took him on dates. Got to know him again. Let more of himself be known. Again. Sometimes it felt like retreading old ground, but the freedom of not saying and hearing these things via whispers in the dark as the Master monitored them kept it from feeling stale. And while some things were still whispered in the dark, it was under much more pleasant circumstances, this time.

And finally, _finally_ , the night before they sent Tommy Brockless back, Jack must have said the right thing. Ianto had taken Jack, right there on his desk, his passion breathtaking. They had then retreated to Jack’s bunker for round two, and as Jack was about to enter his lover, Ianto reached out to still him, for a moment.

They had been facing one another. They almost always faced one another. But Ianto carefully got up onto his knees and, after another scorching kiss, turned away from Jack. The immortal’s hands shook as he lined himself up and gently pressed into his lover. They both moaned at the sensation, then Jack reached around and pulled Ianto up so the younger man’s back was pressed against his chest.

Jack sat back on his heels as he eased Ianto down onto his lap. He spread Ianto’s knees wide, thankful for the younger man’s flexibility, and they moved slowly together. “Is this what you wanted?” he whispered in Ianto’s ear, his voice rough with emotion.

Ianto reached back, his left hand clutching Jack’s backside and the right shoved into Jack’s hair. He turned his head to the right and captured Jack’s lips in another searing kiss, holding him there with that vice grip on Jack’s locks. When they parted, both gasping for breath, Jack asked again, needing to be sure.

“Do you want me to make you mine, Ianto?”

As ever, Ianto’s response stunned Jack, stilling his body and even his breath. “I’ve been yours for a while now, Jack. I want you to mark me, to make everyone know that you’re mine, as well.” He leaned further to the side to look Jack in the eye. “You are, aren’t you?”

The vulnerability in Ianto’s eyes was the first overt indication he had ever given Jack about being an omega. They had been on equal footing for so long. Other than the mark, and who would be marking whom, it was not really a conscious thought. Jack already cherished Ianto. But then he would, even if the younger man was another alpha or a beta. That he was an omega just made him that much more special, in Jack’s eyes.

Ianto was one of those omegas who blazed his own trail. Not interested in taking advantage of the deference given omegas, he usually passed for a beta, or even (at times) and alpha. Jack knew for certain that John Hart thought Ianto was an alpha. But that’s how it often went. Omegas were so often deferred to and revered that they built up a sort of personal power base that they could tap into in order to do as they wished. Those omegas deferred to no one.

That Ianto wanted Jack to mark him was incredibly humbling. He knew it had nothing to do with this incredible man submitting to him and everything to do with him trusting him and – dare he hope – loving him. Jack had already witnessed how Ianto Jones loved. He was completely fine with being on the receiving end of such a blessing and honor.

“Yes, Ianto,” he murmured, kissing Ianto again. “I’m yours.” He tried to move, but was stilled again by Ianto’s hand.

“I love you, Jack.”

Jack groaned. He couldn’t say the words. Not yet. But he did love Ianto. Truly, he did. He desperately hoped that Ianto understood. He looked at the younger man and saw nothing but love and understanding shining in his eyes. He could sense the slightest hint of disappointment, but he knew Ianto understood. He clung to that understanding as he kissed Ianto and began moving again.

He reached around and began tugging on Ianto, upping his tempo as he sought their mutual release. When he felt the familiar sparks igniting down his spine, he moved from where he had been kissing Ianto to biting his shoulder, and as he approached is climax, he bit the nape of Ianto’s neck and tasted blood as his body shook with his release.

He heard Ianto moan and felt the younger man contracting around him, milking his orgasm from him. Jack released his hold and bit again, causing Ianto to jerk in his arms, his body spasming a second time. This time, he cried out.

“Jack!”

Jack’s body was still reacting, and he thrust into Ianto as he bit Ianto a third time, and they both moaned at the intensity of feeling and sensation that swept over them. It was, quite possibly, the most intense coupling Jack had ever experienced, and he would cherish the memory of it for all of his many days.

“Jack?”

Jack startled from his memory of bonding with Ianto in this version of reality and looked up to see that Gwen had entered his office.

“Gwen,” he sighed, then had an idea. “Can I get you to talk to Ianto? I still need some time to wrap my head around all of this.”

“Of course, Jack,” Gwen smiled. “It’s a lot to take in, I know.”

“A baby,” Jack muttered, awe in his voice.

Gwen hesitated, then steeled herself. “What can I do?”

***


	6. Chapter 6

Ianto was standing at the coffee machine, using the soothing routine to calm his nerves. He was incredibly anxious about facing Jack, but hopeful that, having had some time to get used to the idea, his mate would soon be more amenable to a discussion.

“Ianto, pet?” Gwen approached quietly, as though trying not to startle him. She frowned at the coffee machine. “You’re not going to drink any of that, are you?”

“No, Gwen,” Ianto answered, inwardly cringing at the hated nickname. _Pet_. Seriously? “I have been pregnant before, you know.”

Gwen shook off the awful reminder of how that pregnancy had ended. Tosh had actually found CCTV footage of the conversion room in Torchwood Tower, that day. It had been horrific, and Gwen didn’t want to think about it. “Of course, sweetheart,” she smiled.

Ianto turned to watch her carefully. Something about her behavior was not sitting well with him, at the moment.

Gwen looked down at her hands, almost seeming surprised to see the bottle there. “I brought you some ginger mint green tea,” she said, extending the bottle. “Have a few sips. There’s no caffeine, and they say it’s good for the queasiness.”

Ianto frowned. That was actually quite sweet. He felt guilty for questioning her motives. He unscrewed the cap, wondering for a moment about the seal being broken, but as it was coming from Gwen, he just assumed she’d opened it but decided before drinking it to share it with him, instead. He took a long draw on the bottle, sighing at the soothing feeling as the liquid eased his throat.

They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes as he finished the bottle, having been more thirsty than he thought. He thanked her before throwing the bottle into the rubbish bin and turning back towards the coffees.

“Ianto, pet, I’m sorry, but I’ve come to turn you loose,” she said, her face showing a pained expression.

“What?” he frowned, turning back to Gwen.

“Jack says that Torchwood is no place for a baby. He wants you to leave,” Gwen said, sounding almost reluctant.

“What?”

“He’s removing you from the duty roster. He says he’ll talk to you about how your exit from Torchwood will occur, once the baby is born.”

“What?” Ianto felt dizzy. “He’s… He’s firing me?” And what about… He sucked in a breath.

“Oh, pet. You know that this is no place to try to raise a family,” Gwen said, not unsympathetically.

“But what do you mean, my _exit_ from Torchwood?” he felt at sea. The floor was actually shifting beneath him. Even if he was planning to somehow break up with Ianto without triggering a rejection, surely Jack wasn’t planning on Retconning him…

“I’m sorry, Ianto,” Gwen said, her large eyes looking sympathetic. “Now I don’t want you to worry about a thing. We’ll pack up your things and send them along, to save you the bother.”

“No,” Ianto growled, pushing past her and rushing to Jack’s office. When he reached the door, he tore it open and burst through. “Jack!” he exclaimed.

“Ianto,” Jack said wearily. He was so _not_ ready for this conversation.

“You’re cutting me loose?” Ianto asked, using Gwen’s turn of phrase.

Jack had closed off their bond earlier in the day, needing to sort through his chaotic feelings without imposing them on Ianto. But the unfortunate effect was that he did not feel Ianto’s current state of panic. He didn’t even look up from the file he was working on. Ianto would have to suck it up and deal with getting off work early. “Go home, Ianto. We’ll discuss logistics, later.”

“Logistics?” Ianto reeled. He leaned against the door jamb, not certain his legs would continue to hold him up. “Our child is just a logistic, now?”

“Don’t be melodramatic,” Jack snarked. “Go home.”

Ianto turned and left Jack’s office on shaky legs. Owen and Toshiko watched him leave with growing concern.

***

Several hours later, Ianto stumbled back into the hub.

“Owen,” he cried out, falling to his knees.

Owen ran to the younger man, noting the dilated pupils, cold sweat, signs of shock, and…

_Oh, no._

“Owen, something’s wrong,” Ianto had Owen by the shirt, dragging him down. “Help me. _Please_.”

“Jack!” Tosh called out as Owen half-hauled, half-carried Ianto down to the med-bay. He carefully lay the omega on the table and began scanning him. He frowned and scanned Ianto again.

“Tosh, come help me, please,” Owen called out as he began undressing Ianto. “Jack, bring down one of your blankets! Try to stay calm, Ianto,” he said, but the shaking in his hands and voice betrayed him. “Let’s just get you undressed so we can have a better look, yeah?”

Ianto was trying not to panic, but the pain was too intense. He was more afraid than he’d ever been in his life, aside from those moments in the conversion unit. “God, please no,” he cried out. “Not again!”

Owen had managed to get Ianto stripped down to his boxer briefs, and was horrified to see his delivery fold had already formed and begun to dilate. “No, no, no, no, no!” Owen muttered, running to the medical cabinet to see what he had that might help and trying to take a calming breath. He could not allow Ianto to lose another child!

Toshiko had covered Ianto with the blanket Jack tossed down to her and was holding the younger man’s hand and mopping his brow with a cool cloth. As he looked up, she followed his line of sight and saw Jack standing at the railing, looking down with a stricken expression. What was wrong, however, was that he was not coming down to comfort his mate. Instead, he had his arm wrapped around Gwen, who was plastered to his side, looking…

Tosh’s eyes narrowed as she looked more closely at Gwen. She was returning Ianto’s look far too placidly, holding Jack proprietarily. Jack’s arm was draped around her almost absently, like he couldn’t find another place to put it, with her glommed onto him like she was. He was completely focused on Ianto, but Tosh doubted Ianto saw it that way.

The younger man let out a sob and closed his eyes, surrendering to the pain. Tosh didn’t reach for Jack’s blanket when Ianto let it slide to the floor.

***


	7. Chapter 7

It took ten hours.

Ten hours of excruciating pain, during which Jack held vigil and Gwen held Jack, though he was oblivious to her presence.

Toshiko and Owen did their best to comfort Ianto, but it was obvious from the first scan that the baby was gone. All that was left was to deliver her remains.

It was heartbreaking to watch. Ianto spent the first three hours pleading for help that could not be provided. After that, he was silent, but for his screams of agony as his body rejected the no longer viable pregnancy.

Toshiko cried with him, trying to comfort him. She found it notable that he did not once cry out for his mate.

Owen was heartbroken. He had been looking so forward to delivering Torchwood’s first baben. For all his differences with Ianto, he could not think of a worse fate for the younger man to suffer.

Once it was done and the delivery fold had re-sealed itself, Owen and Toshiko carefully tended Ianto, gently washing him and wrapping him in warm blankets before ensuring his IV was set and he had proper levels of sedatives and pain relief.

They both noted that Ianto’s mark was bleeding and festering. Owen shook his head and applied a bandage.

They left him in an uneasy sleep and climbed the stairs to speak to Jack. Gwen had finally turned him loose, but she was still holding his hand. Owen tiredly gestured for Jack to move towards the sofa.

“So his carelessness killed the child,” Gwen said bluntly.

Jack let out a small sob.

“Gwen, you need to shut the fuck up,” Owen gritted. “I have no idea what caused the miscarriage, but it wasn’t bloody fieldwork.”

“It wasn’t?” Jack looked up at Owen, startled. “What do you mean?”

“I told you, Jack. That baby was almost freakishly healthy this morning. And that was after the little tumble Ianto took, saving my life.” Owen choked, then gathered himself carefully.

“What are you saying, Owen?” Jack asked.

“I’m saying that I think something chemical caused this.”

“Chemical?” Jack’s brow furrowed.

“He’s in full rejection, for starters,” Owen looked down at Jack, his arms crossed over his chest. He was incredibly angry. He didn’t think rejection could cause a miscarriage this quickly, but if this was down to Jack, Owen would find a way to make the immortal stay the fuck dead.

Jack went chalk white. “Rejection?” he whispered. He tried to reopen their bond but only felt a disjointed, splintered sort of devastation. He sucked in a breath as the full force of the one thing he could discern – the depth of Ianto’s despair – overwhelmed him.

Owen blinked, then hardened again. “What did you do to prove otherwise, other than cling to _Gwen_ rather than fucking comfort your mate while he endured the agony of losing a child?”

“Gwen said he didn’t want me down there,” Jack cried, abject misery writ across his features.

“Oh she did, did she?” Owen turned accusing eyes to Gwen.

“Well, after the way he left,” she stuttered.

Owen rounded back on Jack. “And you took the word of the beta who has been _sniffing_ around you from the beginning, rather than walk twenty paces to see what your _actual mate_ wanted? What the fuck is wrong with you, Jack?”

Gwen stepped in to defend Jack, who sat with his head hanging. Owen was right. But when Gwen had told him that Ianto had asked her to keep Jack away from him, he had tried to reopen their bond, only to feel utter chaos. It had felt like Ianto was the one rejecting Jack, and he had tried to honor his mate’s wishes while still staying close.

As Owen and Gwen argued over Jack’s head, only Tosh heard the invisible lift when it started. She ran towards it, crying out, “Ianto!”

The lift was mid-way up by the time the others joined her. Ianto had on the track pants and t-shirt he had been wearing when he arrived, but no shoes or socks. He looked like he could barely stand, but he inched towards the edge of the lift as it traveled higher, his toes hanging over the side.

“Oh, God,” Tosh cried. “Ianto, don’t you _dare_ do this to me. Please don’t make me watch you do this!” Tears streaked her face as she shouted to be heard as the lift drew further away. Ianto’s face, which had already been a mask of misery, crumbled. He nodded and stepped back from the edge.

“You think he was going to jump?” Jack asked, shaken. He began moving towards the cog wheel door.

Tosh nodded miserably. “And now he’s just going to find some other place to do it,” she and Owen were following him closely. “Jack, I’m not sure you understand. His body is rejecting your mark. He thinks you’ve rejected him.”

“But I didn’t! I haven’t!” Jack protested, rounding on them.

“Then why does he think you have?” she asked. “He would have to be convinced, at a _cellular level_ , for this kind of rejection to take place.”

Jack frowned at her as the door opened behind him, but then he looked up, a new sound catching his ears as the invisible lift reached the Plass. The grinding, wheezing noise that always heralded the arrival of the Doctor. He ran to a monitor, hoping against hope that the Doctor might be able to help, somehow. On the screen, the TARDIS materialized around Ianto just as the paving stone of the invisible lift locked into place.

Jack ran.

***

Ianto heard the distinctive sound as the lift moved closer to the Plass. It looked as though he was rising through the floor of the timeship as it fully materialized around him. It was a bit disorientating, actually. He was facing the doors and was absently relieved that he would be able to just open them and leave, once the walls finally became solid.

He looked up, hearing her beautiful song and his heart broke anew. He let out a sob and reached for the door, but it was sealed shut. He fell to his knees and sobbed.

“Please...” he begged.

“Ianto Jones! That _is_ you!” a voice exclaimed behind him. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You’re normally in a suit!”

“Are you all right?” a gentle voice inquired beside him.

Ianto looked to his left and saw a pair of gentle green eyes looking him over. The face was kind, but Ianto recognized the steel behind it. This man had seen wars.

“No,” Ianto replied. “I need to get out of here before they follow…”

“Ianto, these are the Ponds. Amy, Rory, this is Ianto Jones. He belongs to Torchwood. He is Jack Harkness’ bondmate,” the voice blithely continued.

“No!” Ianto shouted, climbing to his feet and hating himself for leaning more heavily on Rory (?) than he could have wished. “I am _not_ Jack’s mate,” he seethed. He turned and took several steps to crowd the Doctor (?), who was wearing a different face, now. And a bowtie. He blinked several times as the Doctor looked at him, frowning.

“What do you mean?” the Doctor looked confused.

“Doctor,” Rory said, his tone holding a bit of a warning.

“Oh! Am I early? Have I given away a spoiler?”

“Doctor,” Rory’s voice became a bit more insistent, now.

“I hate giving away spoilers,” the Doctor muttered. He eyed Ianto more closely and noticed that the young man looked very unwell.

“Doctor!” Rory gritted out.

“ _What_?” the Doctor turned to the Centurion, looking cross.

Rory pointed to Ianto’s neck, where his mark was seeping blood and oozing infection through the bandage Owen had applied. “He’s in full rejection,” Rory said quietly.

“What?” the Doctor looked shocked.

That couldn’t possibly be right…

***


	8. Chapter 8

Ianto’s legs gave out, and it was only Rory’s quick reflexes and Amy’s assistance that kept him from landing hard on the floor of the TARDIS. They eased him down and knelt beside him, and he sobbed again.

“Ianto, tell me what happened,” the Doctor said, his voice pleading now, as he knelt before him. This man was meant to become one of the Doctor’s best and closest friends, but if he was in full rejection, he could very well be dying, instead. Because this seemed to be before… well, spoilers. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, but refrained from scanning the younger man, just yet.

“I should have died at Canary Wharf,” Ianto said miserably. “Why couldn’t you have just been two minutes later, opening the void?”

The Doctor paled as Amy asked what Ianto meant. The Ponds knew all about Canary Wharf, though the Doctor would have liked to have protected them from Ianto’s story of being locked into a conversion unit and…

The Doctor paled further. He hadn’t known about the cleansing process. Amy was openly crying, and Rory was only refraining from tears because he was in full medical mode.

“I should have died. What the hell good is an omega who can’t keep his babies alive?”

Wait. _Babies_?

Ianto went on to explain how he had also missed the chance to die when his partially converted mate rejected him before being killed by Torchwood.

“And now _two_ mates have rejected me,” Ianto wept. “Why am I even here?”

“Ianto, Canary Wharf was several years ago. Tell me what’s happened today, that you’re in this state,” the Doctor insisted. What in the whole wide universe could possibly make Jack Harkness reject his bond with Ianto Jones?

It was not possible.

It was simply _not_ possible!

Rory had his arms around Ianto, holding him up. “We should get him to the infirmary,” he muttered.

“Found out this morning,” Ianto looked at the Doctor. “Birth control didn’t work, did it?”

Amy’s face lit up. “You’re pregnant?” She clapped her hands together, but her eyes widened in horror and her face fell as Rory looked at her and shook his head.

“I don’t know what happened,” Ianto sobbed. “Owen said the baby was healthy. And then Jack _sacked_ me.” He sniffed. “Didn’t even have the bollocks to tell me himself. Had _Gwen_ do it.”

“What?” the Doctor frowned. That didn’t sound like Jack. He’d have grounded Ianto, kept him out of the field, but fire him?

Something wasn’t right, here.

“I went home and started feeling badly,” Ianto continued. “Went back to the hub, and then,” he broke down and wept. “I only knew about her for a few hours, but now that she’s gone, it feels as though the sun has gone out!”

Rory held Ianto, and Amy curled herself around his other side so he would feel comforted and protected.

“You mean you lost the child? _Today_?” the Doctor asked gently, and sighed when the younger man nodded miserably. “And where were you headed?” Behind them, the doors to the TARDIS opened and Jack and the others rushed in.

Ianto sniffed. “To find the nearest roof.”

Amy gasped, and Rory tightened his hold on Ianto. At Jack’s growl, the Centurion merely raised an eyebrow.

“Doesn’t really seem your style, Ianto. A bit melodramatic, don’t you think?” the Doctor scolded, surprised.

“Why?” Ianto asked, frowning in confusion. “Because I’m tired and want to be done? Or because it would be quicker and far less painful? I’m dying anyway.”

The Doctor finally sonicked Ianto, reading the results and frowning.

“I’ve already been through one rejection,” Ianto added miserably, unable to see the new arrivals from where his head was buried in Rory’s chest. “Why should I endure another? Jack’s already moved on and will have forgotten me in a matter of weeks. _Two_ dead babies. _Two_ rejections. No reason not to get on with it.”

“Ianto, why do you think I’ve moved on?” Jack was on his knees beside the Doctor, his heart aching that Ianto thought Jack could _ever_ forget him, much less in the matter of mere weeks. If he wasn’t so heartbroken, he’d be insulted; but then Ianto’s next words hit home.

“You let me lose our little girl alone, while you had a cuddle with Gwen,” Ianto snarled. “What am I meant to think?”

“That’s not…” Jack sputtered. “Ianto, no!” He looked from the Doctor to Ianto, his face desperate. “She said you wanted me to stay away!”

A loud slap echoed through the control room. Jack looked up just in time to see that Toshiko had an excellent follow-through on the backhanded slap she had just delivered to Gwen. “You bitch!” she snarled, ready to deliver another blow as the Welshwoman cringed away. “Jack, Gwen never talked to Ianto. She never even came near him. When was he meant to have told her this?”

“She said she spoke to him when I went down to the bunker to get the blanket,” Jack looked baffled. “Wait. I don’t understand.”

“I think I do,” the Doctor muttered darkly. “Jack, I’m moving us into the hub. All right?” At Jack’s absent nod, the Doctor ran to the console and threw a switch, and they traveled from the Plass down into the hub. The Doctor then began working at the console, asking the TARDIS to tap into Mainframe to find the hub’s CCTV activity he was looking for.

“Jack, she hit me!” Gwen wailed.

“And she’ll hit you again, if you don’t shut up,” Toshiko growled.

As Gwen backed down, Owen’s breath caught. _Damn_.

As the Doctor scanned through the CCTV footage, Rory whispered to Ianto, much to Jack’s annoyance. “Ianto, I know you don’t know me, but will you allow me to help you?”

“Help? Me?” Ianto looked confused, and it was obvious that he was growing weaker. How could anyone possibly help him, now? No one helped him when he truly needed it. Now there was nothing to be done.

“I think you know we’re not going to just allow you to go jump off a roof. Will you let me help stabilize you?” When Ianto began struggling in his arms, Rory gently shushed him. “I won’t try to bond with you, Ianto,” he reassured. Shooting a glare at Jack, he added, “Not unless you want me to.”

“But you already have a bondmate,” Ianto continued to resist.

Jack let out a growl, but Rory kept focused on Ianto. “Doesn’t matter. I would never require anything of you. But I would always be there for you, and _never_ neglect you,” Rory pledged, sending another glare Jack’s way.

“Just let me _leave_ ,” Ianto cried, struggling uselessly.

“Can’t do that, Love,” Rory whispered as Amy petted Ianto’s hair. “Let me help you, Ianto. I swear I won’t bond with you. Never without your permission. But let me help level you out. Let us comfort you, and make sure you’re strong enough to make good decisions.”

“No decisions to make,” Ianto muttered miserably. “My alphas keep rejecting me.”

Rory looked at Jack, who was shaking his head, every bit as miserable as his fading mate. In that moment, the Centurion realized that whatever had been done, it had been done to both men. He caught Jack’s eye and nodded his understanding, then raised an enquiring eyebrow.

It took every bit of Jack’s strength to nod back to Rory.

“Ianto, I don’t think that’s what’s actually happening, but we need to keep you with us so we can show you that. Please understand. I’m going to scruff your shoulder. Just to stabilize you.”

Ianto protested weakly, and Rory felt ill at doing something against an omega’s wishes, even if said omega was currently too unwell to make a proper decision of his own.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, Rory is an alpha. Here is how I backed into it, and the more I mapped it out, the more sense it made.
> 
> River is _definitely_ and alpha. And Amy was definitely River's bearing parental. That means in this universe, Amy has to be an omega. And it still fits with her personality because she's one of the ones who amassed a lot of personal power due to the deference shown omegas. Rory's no beta, and I think it makes sense that he's an alpha who is secure enough to defer to _his_ omega, and has nothing to prove to anyone else.


	9. Chapter 9

Amy moved aside the collar of Ianto’s t-shirt, and Rory leaned down and ran his nose along the dying man’s neck. The fouling mark smelled sickly sweet, but it did not spoil Ianto’s basic scent. Rory felt the old thrill of alpha-fueled adrenaline and fought for the constraint he would need in order to do this properly. He was old, but not so old that it was no longer an effort to control his most primal instincts.

Amy reached around and grabbed the scruff of Rory’s neck, helping to ground him. He leaned down and kissed Ianto softly, allowing the younger man to get used to his scent. He heard Jack let out a low growl and looked up, the apology plain in his face. He was clearly the only one here who could do this – allowing Jack to do it while Ianto was in rejection would be dangerous.

By some silent agreement, Owen was keeping an eye on Gwen and Toshiko circled around to kneel by Jack. She put a hand on his shoulder as he growled and whimpered at the sight of another alpha comforting his mate. He wept at the realization that Ianto was, at the moment, no longer his mate, though Jack still felt the echoes of their bond, just as he had after the Year. Apparently, nothing was able to fully dissolve the bond with Ianto, from Jack’s perspective.

Ianto was still crying, not wanting anything that would prolong his pain. It was all Jack could do, even with Toshiko massaging the scruff of his own neck, not to attack Rory for forcing something Ianto didn’t want. He knew it was not logical, but all he could see, all he could _feel_ was his mate’s pain. But he took control of himself and only a small growl escaped as Rory leaned down to bite Ianto.

In the next moment, Ianto gasped as this new alpha’s teeth sank into his trapezius muscle, just below where his neck transitioned to his shoulder. A flood of warmth and comfort and safety almost overwhelmed him, and he let out a howl of despair as he was reminded that this was not _his_ alpha. His pain and loss flooded him anew, and Rory released him, only to take a deep breath and bite him again.

Ianto let out a terrible, mournful sound, but he stopped struggling. Rory was cradling him in his arms, Amy sitting beside him with one hand on Rory’s neck and the other in Ianto’s hair. As Ianto finally relaxed, Rory released the bite and rested his forehead on Amy’s shoulder, fighting for control.

_Gods, but everything in him was begging to let him mark this beautiful boy!_

After a moment she kissed him hard and offered him her neck, and he bit down, relieved to be able to safely assuage his alpha instincts without breaking his promise to Ianto.

Ianto’s head rolled to the side and he looked at Jack, his expression holding so much pain that Jack could hardly bear the sight. “Jack,” he muttered before his eyes fluttered shut.

Jack let out a sob, aching to reach out and take his mate in his arms and finally comfort him. He couldn’t imagine why Gwen had lied to him about Ianto wanting him to stay away. He dragged his eyes from Ianto’s face to hers, and was shocked by the bitterness and loathing in her expression as she looked at the younger man. He was about to speak up when the Doctor cried out.

“I found it!” He stepped back to them and knelt beside Jack, once more. Taking Ianto’s hand, he spoke softly. “Ianto, you need to see this. Can you open your eyes for a moment?”

Ianto opened his eyes, and Jack was relieved to see that he did look a bit stronger, now. His eyes flickered to the alpha holding Ianto and nodded his appreciation. Rory helped Ianto to sit up, then shifted around so the younger man was propped between him and Amy.

“Ianto, this is the CCTV from Jack’s office, just before Gwen came to speak to you,” the Doctor’s voice was low and gentle, as though he was trying not to spook the omega, who had already suffered so much. He turned his eyes to Jack. “It appears that someone attempted to erase it, along with the footage of the conversation she had with Ianto.”

The Doctor turned old eyes to Gwen, and she began slowly moving towards the door. She yelped when she backed into Owen, who had placed himself between her and the door several moments before.

The Doctor queued up the footage, which played out three-dimensionally in front of them.

_Jack startled and looked up from his reverie to see that Gwen had entered his office._

_“Gwen,” he sighed, then had an idea. “Can I get you to talk to Ianto? I still need some time to wrap my head around all of this.”_

_“Of course, Jack,” Gwen smiled. “It’s a lot to take in, I know.”_

_“A baby,” Jack muttered, awe in his voice._

_Gwen hesitated, then seemed to steel herself. “What can I do?”_

_“Tell Ianto to take the rest of the day,” he replied. “He’s got even more to wrap his head around than I do. Tell him I’ll bring dinner later, so we can talk.”_

_Gwen frowned. “So you’re going to let him stay in Torchwood?”_

_Jack’s expression mirrored hers. “Why wouldn’t I?”_

_Her eyes widened in a surprised innocence that, in light of recent discoveries, everyone in the room could now see was completely contrived. “Jack, this is no place to raise a child!”_

_“Oh, so if you and Rhys decide to have a kid, you’re going to ask for Retcon and a cover story?” Jack leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest._

_“Of course not,” she blurted, then sighed. “But I don’t have an alpha here, whose concern about his mate and child might jeopardize the rest of the team.”_

_“Which is why I’m pulling him out of the field rotation,” Jack replied, his voice hard. “Just let him know we’ll talk tonight, will you?” He went back to the files on his desk, effectively dismissing her._

***


	10. Chapter 10

“But…” Ianto frowned. “That’s not what…” He looked from Jack to Gwen and back again. “What?”

Jack frowned.

“You’re right to be confused,” the Doctor reached out and patted Ianto’s shoulder. Next he queued up the CCTV footage of Gwen’s conversation with Ianto. Jack’s expression turned to thunder as he faced Gwen.

“Care to explain yourself, Ms. Cooper?” he asked, his voice silken and dangerous.

“It’s too dangerous at Torchwood for a child, Jack,” Gwen stuck her chin out, belligerent and defiant. “You’d see that, if you weren’t so blinded by lust for your little toy, there.”

Ianto blinked. Little toy? Was she talking about him?

Jack bristled, but when the Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder, he immediately calmed. “I think Ianto should see what happened after he spoke with you,” the Doctor said. He queued up the discussion between Ianto and Jack, where Jack thought Ianto knew they would talk details that evening and Ianto misinterpreted Jack’s reference to ‘logistics’, thinking he’d been sacked.

Almost as soon as Ianto exited Jack’s office, Toshiko entered.

_Jack, what is going on?” she asked. “Ianto just left, and he didn’t look well, at all.”_

_“I’ll talk to him this evening, Tosh. I promise. I just…” Jack sat back from his desk and ran his hands over his face. “I’m trying to stop freaking out, so I’ll be calm enough to speak with him without being an even bigger arse than I’ve already been.”_

_“Why are you freaking out?” Tosh asked, sitting on the edge of his desk and smiling sympathetically._

_Jack sighed. “My last mate died in childbirth,” he confessed. “And the last woman I had a child with ran off with the child, because of my… condition. New name, new life.” He sighed sadly. “Now my own kid can’t stand the sight of me.”_

_Tosh reached out and ran her hand up and down Jack’s arm. “Jack, I’m so sorry.” She leaned back. “Does Ianto know any of this?”_

_“Some, but maybe not enough to connect the dots between what he knows and how I’ve been acting,” Jack shook his head. “I should go to him and explain.”_

_“Jack?” Gwen called out from the door where she had been lurking for several minutes, now. “I’m seeing some strange readings from that scan you asked me to do.”_

_Tosh looked at the door, frowning. “I’m sure that can wait,” she said, turning back to Jack._

_Jack gave her a sheepish look. “Actually, let me take a look. It’ll give me a few minutes to gather my courage.”_

_“Just don’t wait too long,” Tosh squeezed his forearm before standing and leaving the office._

***

Now everyone was staring at Gwen, who looked ready to bolt. “What?” she asked, still defiant.

“There was nothing unusual in those scans,” Jack said, his eyes narrowing.

“Anyone else wondering what was in that bottle she gave Ianto, besides ginger mint green tea?” Tosh looked sick as she headed for the door.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gwen sneered at Tosh, but no one missed the strange light in her eyes as she realized where Tosh was going.

As Toshiko left the TARDIS to retrieve the bottle from the bin in the kitchen, the Doctor cleared his throat. He seemed reluctant to speak, but he knew he must. “I think I know,” he said quietly.

“What?” Jack said, confused.

“Ianto has a compound in his system, XR-9671.”

Rory and Owen both began cursing (wait, was that Latin?), and Owen reached out and grabbed Gwen by the arm, refusing to let her continue to inch towards the door.

“Owen, you’re hurting me!” she exclaimed, wide eyes filling with tears.

“Don’t care,” he snarled. “Did you dose that drink?”

“I don’t know why you care,” she sneered suddenly, her face transforming from poor little victim to raging psychopath. “You hate him, too.”

“Shows what you know,” Owen shouted, disconcerted that anyone still thought he hated Ianto. “And what the hell do you have against him, anyway?”

Gwen continued to try to pull her arm free, but Owen held fast. “He’s trapped Jack, somehow.”

“Trapped? He’s Jack’s _mate_ , you daft bint!”

“Well, he shouldn’t be. Jack loves _me_!” she replied. “It’s like you always said – Ianto’s just his part-time shag. But _I’m_ the one he really wants!” She looked at Jack, her expression once more wide and innocent. “Tell them, Jack!” She pulled against Owen’s hold. “You said as much, when you didn’t make me Retcon Rhys!”

“You’re delusional,” Owen swore bitterly, still holding her by the arm as she continued to struggle to get free.

“I did this for you, Jack – to set you free from him, so we can finally be together.” Gwen’s eyes darted to Ianto, and her expression soured. “Much as I gave him, he shouldn’t have even survived the compound, but now you’ve come to your senses and rejected him, he’ll be gone, soon enough. Come on, Jack. Tell them we belong together!”

Jack sat with his mouth hanging open in shock, paralyzed by Gwen’s cold hatred of his mate, who was curling in on himself, sobbing. He locked in on the one thing he could. “Can someone share what XR-9671 is?” he asked, a sick feeling moving through his belly.

“Ianto, Jack,” the Doctor looked from one to the other, his eyes full of compassion. “I’m so sorry. XR-9671 is an abortive agent.”

Jack snarled and was on his feet in a flash, but a strangled noise from Ianto had him dropping back down to take his mate in his arms as Rory and Amy stood and turned to face Gwen. Gwen reached out and kneed Owen, bolting towards the door. She plowed through Toshiko and ran into the hub. Jack vaguely saw Rory grab something as he, Amy, and Owen gave chase.

Tosh dropped to the deck beside them and held out the empty tea bottle, which the Doctor scanned as she dumped the contents of Gwen’s purse onto the floor and examined them.

“The compound was in the bottle,” the Doctor nodded sadly.

“And here’s the prescription,” Tosh held up the bottle, which the Doctor also scanned, confirming that this is what had aborted Ianto’s pregnancy. “It’s all so cold and calculated,” she whispered, running a hand through Ianto’s hair as he wept into Jack’s chest.

Jack looked just as devastated as his own tears silently fell.

“Jack, take him to your old room,” the Doctor whispered after scanning Ianto again. “There isn’t much time. You need to try to re-establish your bond, if you want any hope of saving him.”

“Gwen,” Jack growled as he gathered Ianto into his arms and stood.

“The Roman will find her,” the Doctor said wearily. “And may whatever god she prays to have mercy on her, because he and Amy will not.” The Doctor looked sad at that thought, but he knew that the trauma of recently losing Melody, combined with the instinctual reaction to someone deliberately bringing harm to an omega’s pregnancy, would make the couple unstoppable.

And just this once, he could not begrudge them that. If Cooper had shown an ounce of remorse, he might have interceded. But she had not, and this was a human affair.

Best leave them to it.

***


	11. Chapter 11

Jack carried a now unconscious Ianto into the corridor and found his quarters behind the first door to the left. “Thank you,” he whispered to the TARDIS, knowing she had moved his room close. Once inside, he spared barely a glance to confirm that nothing had changed; his focus was entirely on his mate. He gently lay Ianto on the bed and quickly undressed him.

Jack then shed his own clothing and climbed into the bed. “Ianto,” he whispered, running a hand through the younger man’s hair.

“Hmmm,” Ianto muttered, frowning as he woke.

“Come on, Sweetheart. We need to talk,” Jack pulled Ianto close so his back was pressed tightly to Jack’s chest. He bent his head to kiss Rory’s bite, then leaned back slightly to pull the bandage off of the mark at Ianto’s nape. It did not look quite so horrible, now. Jack wondered if that might be because Ianto now realized Jack hadn’t actually rejected him.

He hoped so.

“Jack, she killed our baby,” Ianto cried, seeming to come more fully awake and remember the horrors of the day, all at once. “Why would anyone do such a thing?”

“I don’t know, Love,” Jack kissed the mark again. “I know I encouraged her early on, but…” he sobbed into Ianto’s shoulder. “Ianto, I’m so sorry. You must hate me. I wouldn’t blame you, if you did.”

Ianto turned onto his back, wincing at the soreness in his body. “Jack, this isn’t your fault. Yes, you flirted early on, and yes, she took it the wrong way. But she’s engaged, and we’re bonded. Other than that bit of emotional blackmail after the space whale, she’s been so… _normal_. I really thought she’d accepted us and embraced her life with Rhys.”

Jack nodded. “I did too.” He sighed. “I guess the pregnancy was just more than she could deal with.”

Ianto frowned. “That doesn’t explain why she had that prescription…”

“I could guess,” Jack said tiredly. “She terminated a pregnancy of her own because she didn’t want to leave Torchwood. Then she saw you pregnant, and maybe just lost it when she realized that it hadn’t been necessary.”

Ianto shuddered. He looked at Jack, still uncertain. “So you’re not sacking me?”

“Never,” Jack gave a watery smile.

“And you were going to come home, so we could talk about it?”

“I was even going to be thrilled,” Jack said sadly.

“She would have been brilliant,” Ianto sniffed.

“And beautiful,” Jack agreed.

“Jack, I’m sorry.”

Jack frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

“I keep thinking that I shouldn’t have accepted the tea from Gwen. I even noticed that the seal had been broken.”

“Ianto, you accepted a drink from a member of your team. Someone who you have come to trust and rely on in the field, and who you had no reason to suspect would betray you so horribly.” Jack leaned down and kissed his weeping mate. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Love.” He sniffed. “I’m the one who failed you, and I’m so sorry.”

“Jack,” Ianto tried to protest, but Jack silenced him with a kiss.

“I should have protected you. And comforted you, whether I thought you wanted me to, or not. I should have talked to you instead of relying on her to relay my message.”

“Jack, I get that you were afraid. Your experiences have made you wary, and I understand that.” Ianto reached out and caressed Jack’s face. “You will outlive me and every child you ever sire or bear. As happy as a pregnancy can be, I can understand how it can also be a little heartbreaking for you, as well.”

“I’d rather outlive a born child than…” Jack burst into tears, his grief palpable.

Ianto knew then that he must survive the day’s events. If Jack must endure this loss, then Ianto would be by his side to comfort him, and to allow him to return that comfort.

“I promise to do better,” Jack pledged, and the fierceness in his expression left Ianto in no doubt as to the sincerity of his promise.

After a while, their tears subsided. Ianto had grown more pale, if that was possible, but he managed a small, shy smile. “Will you love me, Jack?”

“Are you sure?” Jack was terrified. If he did nothing, he risked losing Ianto to the effects of the miscarriage and the rejection. But he wasn’t sure Ianto was strong enough…

Ianto threaded his hand in Jack’s hair and pulled him in for a kiss. “Please, Jack. I need you.”

Jack pulled Ianto into his arms and repeatedly sank his teeth into the bite mark Rory had left on Ianto’s shoulder as he gently prepared his lover. He felt Ianto gain a bit of strength with each bite, and soon he was pressing gently into the younger man’s body. Once fully seated, he turned them so they were spooning on their left sides. Jack’s left arm snaked under Ianto’s body and carefully held him high across his chest rather than across his tender abdomen. Ianto laced the fingers of his left hand with Jack’s, holding tightly at his right shoulder.

Ianto twisted slightly, reaching back to bury his right hand in Jack’s hair as they kissed. “Jack, please,” he whispered.

Jack moved his right hand from Ianto’s hip to his cock, and he was gratified by the throaty moan that escaped the younger man.

“Please what, Love?” Jack smiled into Ianto’s breathless kiss as he began to move gently.

Ianto was too weak to be very energetic, so Jack kept the pace slow and languorous, reading Ianto’s reactions closely.

“Make me yours again, Jack.” He gasped as Jack’s hand moved faster, his thrusts deeper.

Jack felt his skin tingle and, had he not been otherwise occupied, perhaps he would have noticed the entire room take on a soft, golden glow. “You never stopped being mine, Love. But I’ll mark you again, so the world will know that I’m yours.”

“Yes,” Ianto cried out as Jack bit his nape, re-establishing the mark.

Jack could taste that the infection was gone, and it began to ease his fears. Ianto tasted as sweet and delectable as ever, like coffee and chocolate and _home_. The sizzling tingle across Jack’s skin was now accompanied by a joyful fizzing in his veins.

Jack released his bite and licked the mark, savoring Ianto’s scent and taste. “Say it,” he growled, biting again.

“I’m yours, Jack,” Ianto panted, beginning to lose himself.

Jack released him again and grinned. “And?” he prompted, licking the mark again before tracing behind Ianto’s ear with his tongue. His mouth watered and his teeth _ached_ for another taste. The soft glow of the room was now emanating from Jack as he bit Ianto again.

“Mine!” Ianto called out, arching into Jack’s body, reaching for more – more of Jack’s cock, moving inside him. More of Jack’s hand, sliding insistently along his length. More of Jack’s mouth, claiming him and letting the world know they belonged with one another. Despite the pain and heartbreak of the day, Ianto’s body was quaking with the desire Jack was building in him. “You’re mine, Jack!”

Jack moaned, releasing Ianto as he whispered, “Yes. I’m yours, Love. And I’ll be yours as long as you can stay with me.” The movements of their bodies had sped up, and he knew he couldn’t hold off for much longer. And by the way Ianto’s body was shuddering, he was making his way towards a release of epic proportions.

Ianto felt his skin begin to buzz. He turned his head and kissed Jack before drawing back and whispering against his lips, “If you’d have me, I’d watch the last star go out with you.”

Jack’s heart lurched. “You’d bear that burden with me?” he rasped. Unable to resist the urge to mark Ianto again, he turned Ianto’s head to get at the back of his neck. It felt like an electrical jolt and he growled around his teeth as Ianto moaned, long and low.

“Don’t you know by now?” Ianto wept as he felt his body dissolving into the golden light that was swirling and dancing around them. “I’d bear any burden with or for you, Jack.” He gasped as he felt Jack’s jaws tighten. “I love you, you fool.”

“Ah, gods, Ianto,” Jack kissed behind his lover’s ear before lapping at the mark again. He couldn’t resist it. “Your fool,” he growled, and bit yet again, hard.

Ianto howled as he shattered into several quadrillion shards of golden, shimmering light. His body jolted as wave after wave of pleasure crashed, Jack growling through his own release and aftershocks, his teeth still buried deep in Ianto’s nape.

***


	12. Chapter 12

Ianto lay still, gasping for breath and waiting for his molecules to return to their assigned positions. He was pretty sure he’d blacked out, for a few moments. He wasn’t entirely certain Jack hadn’t, as well, as his lover was still and silent, behind him. He took a deep breath, smiling despite his grief at how thick the air had become with Jack’s pheromones.

His blood was singing in his veins, and despite his confusion, heartache, and physical pain, he could feel the bond with Jack re-forming, and there was breathtaking joy in that knowledge.

As he opened his eyes, he frowned, wondering why he and Jack seemed to be glowing. He decided not to examine this too closely, for the moment. Perhaps the rooms in a time machine and their contents simply glowed, on occasion. Recognizing his own lie and knowing that it would do no good, he resolutely set the notion aside, for the moment.

As his breathing calmed, he observed several things. Jack was still inside him, and still had Ianto firmly in hand. Much more notable, however, was that Jack’s teeth were still buried in Ianto’s nape. What little movement Ianto could manage convinced him that Jack’s jaw was actually locked in place.

Jack had always liked the biting, even when not marking. And if Ianto were honest, it was something that could really get him going, as well – both biting and being bitten. Nothing harsh or painful, of course. Just enough to make a point.

When Lisa had marked him, she’d only bitten him the once, and that had almost seemed an accident. The mark was deep and true, but she had never enjoyed surrendering to the wildness of those instincts. Jack was the exact opposite, it seemed. He had bitten Ianto several times, when marking him, the first time.

This time, Ianto had lost count of the number of times Jack had bitten him. Not that he objected, of course. But it had been more than normal. Ianto realized it was Jack’s love and fear that had likely driven his instinct to ensure the mark was once more firmly established. And the bites to his shoulder certainly seemed to show Jack’s desire to eradicate any remaining evidence of Rory Williams’ assistance.

Ianto smiled at the thought, continuing to consciously block thoughts regarding the events of the day, if only for a few more moments. There’d be plenty of time to grieve, once he and Jack stabilized their bond. And one another.

Ianto could feel blood and drool seeping around Jack’s lips and down his neck. Jack’s mouth was hot on Ianto’s nape, his tongue still, his teeth settled deep into the skin, hurting in the best possible way, which caused Ianto to twitch in Jack’s hand.

Ianto realized that he felt like a sort of reverse electrical plug, with energy flowing into him by way of Jack’s teeth. He held up his right hand, watching how his skin seemed to have taken on an almost translucent golden glow. It would have been worrying, if the ship herself wasn’t singing a song that was part sorrow, part joy, and all love.

That song made it impossible to be afraid of what he suspected had just happened. The sorrow was for their lost child. The joy was for their renewed bond. The love was both old and as yet unborn.

Once and future.

Ianto realized what he had just agreed to… People spoke nonsense in the thrill of the moment all the time, but Ianto had meant every word. He had no idea how, but somehow he could feel it, deep down past the mental anguish and emotional grief and physical pain – his wish had been granted.

He wanted to sing with her. A song of lament for his poor baben. Another child lost. His heart was broken. But the pieces were somehow stitched together and the patchwork had been filled to overflowing with Jack. A song of joy for their bonding. A song of love for their journey together. One that – apparently – was only just beginning.

***

Ianto startled when Jack drew in a deep breath through his nose, disconcerted that he had not realized until this moment that Jack had not been breathing.

In fairness, Ianto had been a bit distracted.

He was bloody _glowing_ , for fuck’s sake! And quite possibly…

“Mmmf,” Jack tightened his grip on everything within his grasp.

“Easy, Jack,” Ianto hissed, grabbing Jack’s wrist. “Fuuuuuuckkkk,” he drawled as Jack worked to extract his teeth from his mate’s nape. Jack’s eyebrows rose as he felt Ianto get very hard, very fast.

And then it was more than just his eyebrows rising.

That could very well have been the best death and reawakening on record. He was trying not to examine too closely what exactly might have killed him. But he had the vivid memory of emptying not just his seed, but his very essence into Ianto, in that moment that their bonding had become complete. It was too beautiful to question and too terrifying to contemplate.

So he didn’t.

Jack began rocking his hips gently and moving his hand lazily over Ianto’s cock as he lapped at the bruised mince that was his mate’s neck. He winced as he drew back to get a proper look, then frowned.

Ianto grumbled when Jack stopped moving. In the next moment he was protesting outright as Jack hastily withdrew and backed away.

“Jack?” Ianto gingerly rolled over, then cursed and rose from the bed, following Jack to the corner where he was curled up tightly. “Jack, come back to bed.”

“You’re glowing,” Jack sniffed. “We’re glowing. What… What have we done?”

“We’ve mated and renewed our bond, Jack. And if you think I’m having any second thoughts about what this,” he raised his hand and stared at it as he turned it one way and then another, “might mean,” he looked back at Jack, whose eyes were wide, “you couldn’t be more wrong.”

Jack sobbed. “Ianto, you were carried away. You don’t know what you were saying.”

Ianto tried to keep his temper in check and fell to his knees beside Jack. “Jack, I know you. I feel your life, and I feel your _deaths_ through our bond. I know how this life makes you feel. And still I want to share it with you.”

“But…”

“I don’t care.”

“You will. Someday, you will, and you’ll hate me for it.” Ianto felt Jack’s despair, and it hurt his heart.

“Oh, Love. How could I? I’m your mate. Our bond will protect us from any of that nonsense.” He stroked Jack’s face. “If you don’t believe me, listen to _her_ ,” he pointed towards the ceiling, and for the first time, Jack heard the TARDIS’ song.

“You did this?” he asked her, his voice shaking.

The response was more feelings than words, but the gist of her reply was that yes, she had helped Jack to share his vortex with Ianto through their bond, and their new mating would be a joyous thing, once their hearts were mended.

Jack looked at Ianto, his eyes wide with wonder and hope. “A new mating?”

Ianto nodded, smiling gently. “And a stronger bond, because now we’re made of the same stuff. What happened yesterday,” a shadow flickered across his face, but Jack watched as he deliberately set it aside, for the moment. “No one will be able to deceive us about one another like that, ever again,” Ianto bit his lip and looked away.

Jack reached out and took Ianto’s hand. “And you’re okay… with… the consequences?”

Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand. “I’ll face the consequences with you.” Suddenly, he looked uncertain. “Will you face them with me, Jack?”

Jack gathered his mate into his arms and held him close. “Until the last star goes out,” he pledged.

“I love you, Jack.”

Jack leaned back so he could look into his mate’s face. “I love you too, Ianto.”

They held one another for a long while as the TARDIS crooned to them. Finally, Ianto pulled away and stood, holding out his hand to Jack. “Come to bed,” he said, his voice low and sultry.

***

Jack and Ianto held their grief at bay and loved for days on end, re-establishing their bond and feeling it deepen. They discovered, quite by accident, that their bond was now telepathic as well as empathic. Jack’s new favorite thing was hearing those gorgeous Welsh vowels in his head, even as that devilish mouth was otherwise occupied.

The vortex settled into Ianto’s cells, though it would take some time for the healing factor to fully develop. In the meantime, they took things slowly, and Jack was careful not to overtax Ianto’s body, which was still tired and tender from his ordeal.

The TARDIS let them know that through the sharing the vortex, the younger man’s lifespan had become tied to Jack’s. Jack looked horrified, but Ianto merely shrugged. He was an omega. Surviving the death of a bondmate had never been guaranteed, so this confirmation did not really rattle him, particularly given how old they would be, when their time came. Ianto was more nervous about how friends and family may react, but he knew that with Jack by his side he could navigate anything.

Once their bond was firmly in place, Jack surmised that Ianto must have felt safe enough to let his guard down, because the omega promptly fell to pieces, and together they mourned their loss. Ianto’s grief compounded as one loss inevitably reminded him of the other, and others besides, and for a short time Jack worried for his mate’s welfare as Ianto’s grief consumed him.

But Jack held Ianto steady, allowing him the space to properly grieve, and sharing the burden where he could. It was incredibly cathartic, but his mate’s pain was heartrending. And even in the midst of it, Ianto still found it in himself to comfort Jack, not forgetting that he had lost a child, as well. And they had both lost a friend. At least, someone they had considered a friend. The betrayal was devastating, both on its own, as well as its result.

They were not so distracted that they did not consider what was going on outside their cocoon, but they realized that they would be no good to anyone if they did not tend themselves, first. So they allowed the TARDIS to take them captive, pretending not to notice when she disappeared the door.

Jack’s room ( _their_ room now, as indicated by the small changes the TARDIS made to reflect Ianto’s presence, as well as Jack’s) was more than ample for their needs. Time became irrelevant, measured only by the meals she provided for them and Ianto’s gradual physical recovery. Each wave of grief gave way to comfort, which in turn gave way to passion. Rest would follow, and if they felt inclined to find other ways to pass the time, they spent it reading, talking, and listening to the TARDIS as she sang to them.

As much as it was a time of mourning, there was also joy as they forged a deeper connection with one another. Looking back, their memories of this time would always be bittersweet. For they knew that the strength of their love had been refined by the profound sorrow of their loss.

***


	13. Chapter 13

Ten days passed before Jack and Ianto considered or even discussed leaving the room. It took a few more for them to actually be ready. The Doctor had assured Owen, Toshiko, and Martha that Jack and Ianto were fine – the TARDIS had kept him posted, letting him know of good days and bad, and keeping him apprised of their general health and wellbeing.

When they finally emerged, it was to an empty control room. Leaving the TARDIS felt strange, and as they left they noticed that the Doctor had parked her near the water tower. As soon as they entered the hub Ianto looked ready to retreat back to the TARDIS, but Jack held his hand as they looked around. He then wrapped his arm around his mate, feeling a slight tremble. “Shhh. I’ve got you, Love,” he whispered, kissing Ianto’s temple before moving to his lips.

Ianto gave a shaky nod, wondering why he was suddenly so unsure of himself. But they should have found out where Gwen was, at the least. Then perhaps he wouldn’t be at loose ends, fearing an attack, at any moment.

Hearing voices, they walked towards Jack’s office to see everyone sitting in the small common area. Rory was sitting on the sofa, his right arm in a sling, his left wrapped around Amy, who was curled into his side. Martha was sat on his right. Toshiko had turned her chair around to face them. Owen had rolled his chair over to the table, and he was reaching for a slice of pizza as they all listened to the Doctor, who was in full flow, telling a story about little fat creatures called the Adipose.

Tosh saw them, first. With a squeak, she flew from her chair and hurled herself at them. It was barely noticeable, the way Ianto flinched and stepped back as Jack seamlessly stepped in and caught her in a huge hug. “Toshiko!” he exclaimed, laughing and swinging her around. He set her on her feet, and she looked at Ianto, feeling unsure of herself, all of a sudden. No one else may have noticed that flinch or Jack’s protective maneuver, but she did. She was proud of Jack, but her heart hurt for her friend.

“Are you all right?” she asked Ianto gently, staying where Jack had set her down and refraining from approaching Ianto, who was looking around the hub warily.

He finally looked back at Tosh and gave her a small smile and nodded, then took a step, opening his arms to her. She stepped into the hug, and Jack did his best not to flinch at the feeling of Ianto’s discomfort flowing along their bond as he accepted and allowed the contact. Jack sent reassurance and comfort, and felt gratitude wafting back to him.

He couldn’t help but feel a small thrill at the ease of their connection. It would likely take a while for Ianto to find his footing around everyone, but Jack would be there to help. And in the meantime, their bond had become something unutterably beautiful that they could both find solace and comfort in.

Owen chuckled at the soppy smile Jack was sending Ianto’s way. “Oi, Tea Boy! Need to look you over.” Owen was abashed to see Ianto recoil at his greeting. He immediately began thinking of the various remedies known to help with the damage done by rejection. He had tried many of them on Ianto, after Lisa’s rejection, but perhaps something new had been developed, since then.

Toshiko stepped away from Ianto, fighting the tears that threatened. The damage Lisa’s rejection did to Ianto had been subtle. His diffidence and lack of confidence seeming to simply be a part of his nature, unless one had taken the trouble to get to know him, before it happened. This was more pronounced. Her best friend, who loved to cuddle... Now, it seemed, he couldn’t bear to be touched by anyone other than his mate. She swallowed her tears and cursed Gwen bloody fucking Cooper for the millionth time.

Martha stood and walked over to give Jack a hug. “I’m so sorry, Jack,” she said, and turned to Ianto. “Ianto.”

Ianto nodded at her, not quite making eye contact.

The Doctor was watching them, frowning. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and catching Ianto’s eye, he raised a brow, asking permission. At Ianto’s nod, he scanned the young man, then looked at the readings. Then he walked over to Jack and caught the immortal’s head between his hands, looking into Jack’s face intently. He released Jack and turned to Ianto, but Jack caught him by the collar before he could accost the uneasy Welshman.

As Jack wrapped his arm back around Ianto, noting the trembling and hating that he could do nothing about it besides offering comfort, the Doctor peered intently at Ianto and scanned him again. “Well,” he said, turning back to Jack, “the old girl seems to have helped you share your vortex along your bond, once it was re-established.” He looked off in the distance, his expression turning abstract before smiling. “Quite proud of herself, actually.”

“So Tea Boy is immortal, too?” Owen asked, his eyes wide.

“And Jack won’t be alone, now?” Tosh asked, her eyes shining.

The Doctor nodded.

“You knew this would happen,” Jack said, eyeing the Time Lord as he felt Ianto scan the hub for the tenth time since they left the TARDIS.

“Well, yes. But I didn’t know when, or quite how.” The Doctor looked at Ianto, who seemed to be incredibly uncomfortable.

Rory spoke up. “I think it would ease Jack’s and Ianto’s minds to know what has happened, in their absence.”

“Yes, of course,” the Doctor said. He gestured for them to all to head back to the sofa. He thought it best to allow Jack and Ianto to stay close to one another, which would be more difficult, in the conference room. “A lot has happened. You’ll want an update.”

Jack gently led Ianto to the sofa. Ianto sat between Tosh and Jack, Jack’s arm around him and Tosh holding his hand. The others pulled chairs close. Jack spoke first.

“So the last I saw, Gwen ran from the TARDIS, and you three followed,” he nodded to Rory, Amy, and Owen.

Rory was sitting in the chair Owen had vacated, with Amy perched on his knee. Owen took Tosh’s chair, and Martha was sitting on the arm of the sofa, on the other side of Tosh.

Owen nodded to Rory, who spoke up. “She ran into the hub, and we followed. She grabbed something from her desk and kept running, but we eventually managed to corner her, in the vaults. When she turned, she had a gun in her hand.”

“Rory was the only one with a weapon,” Owen snorted, showing his feelings regarding Rory’s choice of weapon, “so she shot at him, first.” He gestured to Rory’s shoulder. “Through and through, no significant damage. I managed to grab Gwen’s gun arm, and Amy…” he trailed off, looking at the couple, once more.

“I grabbed Rory’s gladius and ran the bitch through,” Amy said, without remorse. “Twice.”

Jack felt his own grief compounded by Ianto’s, but he was surprised by the relief he felt from his mate. Fear met his surprise, and he quickly sent understanding, reassurance, and comfort.

“Show me,” Ianto said roughly, rising from his seat after a moment.

“Ianto,” Jack began as he rose, as well, but Owen interrupted as the Doctor placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“C’mon, Tea Boy. We figured you’d need to see for yourself.”

Jack frowned as Owen, Rory, and Amy led Ianto towards the med-bay.

“Jack, he’s suffering from rejection damage that’s made him terrified of Gwen. She’s become his own personal nightmare. Let him face his demon and lay her to rest.”

Jack looked at the Doctor and then nodded, sniffing. “Can you help? With the damage, I mean? It wasn’t this pronounced, when we were on our own.”

“As his healing factor comes online, so to speak, the damage will be fully and minutely repaired, but I don’t know how long that will take. I’ll see what I can do, in the meantime.”

“Thank you,” Jack whispered. “Thank you for being here. And for letting us have this time to start to mend. And for staying and helping.” He swiped at the tear that had escaped. “I almost lost him, Doc,” he broke down, and the Doctor moved to embrace him.

“And instead, now you have him forever. Not a bad tradeoff, eh?”

Jack sniffed and quickly calmed. “I know. I know. But I… I felt him fading away from me. And it was…”

“Alphas rarely feel the effects of such rejections,” the Doctor replied. “It speaks to your attachment.” He sighed. “Jack, I know you are both navigating a lot, between Gwen’s betrayal and all of the things that happened as a result, but you’re both going to be fine, I promise you.”

Jack smirked. “What about spoilers?”

“Well. I don’t think this one will hurt the timelines,” the Doctor smiled. “Just hang in there and know that it will get better, okay?”

Jack nodded. “It already is. It’s just a lot to take in. First Gwen betrays us, and now she’s dead.” He sighed. “I honestly thought she had made her choice, and was happy with Rhys and willing to let me be happy with Ianto.”

“I know, Jack. And I am sorry.”

***


	14. Chapter 14

Ianto was surprised to be flanked by Rory and Amy as Owen pulled back the sheet. Gwen’s face held a softness in death’s repose that she had never been able to attain, in life. Ianto reached out to touch her, to check her pulse, to be sure she was dead, but jerked his hand back in the last moment, unwilling to touch the foul creature that had murdered his child.

“She’s gone, Ianto,” Owen said gently, surprising even himself with his empathy. He pulled the sheet far enough down and tugged at the neck of the gown she had been dressed in so Ianto could see the top of the Y-incision from the autopsy. Then he pulled the gown aside to show the deep stab wounds caused by the ancient Roman sword that Rory carried as his weapon of choice.

“I thought she was my friend,” Ianto whispered, tears falling again. “I just… don’t understand.”

Owen sighed. “She wasn’t in her right mind, mate. I found evidence of two abortions in the last six months.”

“What?” Ianto looked at Owen, startled. Even for betas, that was practically unheard of.

Toshiko spoke up, her voice soft. “When we went to notify Rhys, he told us that she had gone off her birth control, and they’d been trying for a child for about eight months, now. At least, that’s what he thought.”

“She was using the XR-9671 to abort the pregnancies – trying to please Rhys by making him think she was trying to get pregnant, but terminating the resulting pregnancies so she could stay with Torchwood.”

“With Jack, you mean,” Ianto muttered, and they couldn’t argue.

“It looks like for the last month or two she’s been taking low doses of the compound, using it as a sort of makeshift form of birth control. But the side effects are horrific,” Owen ran a hand through his hair. “Least among them is psychosis and obsessive behavior.”

“So it wasn’t really her,” Ianto nodded.

“But still the result of her own actions and decisions,” Toshiko quietly asserted. Best not lose sight of that.

Ianto nodded again. “I understand.” He felt a weight lift. The worst part was not understanding why she’d done it. Now that he did, he could let it go. It was a relief, really.

He turned to Amy and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered into her neck. “Thank you for ending her suffering and…” he sniffed and leaned back. He looked around at the others but couldn’t make eye contact. “I know that because of the rejections… I’m not right,” he tapped his temple. “I hate it that I’m relieved, but I don’t think I could have kept myself together if she were still alive. Still a threat.”

Rory embraced Ianto and Amy, who were still hugging one another. “We couldn’t stand by and allow her to go free,” he whispered into Ianto’s hair.

“Our child was taken from us, as well,” Amy told him, her voice low. “Just a baby, and we’ll never see her grow up. We know her as an adult now, but it’s not the same.” She leaned back and looked into Ianto’s face. “We can’t pretend to know your pain, but we still understand it, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ianto burst into tears and pulled her close again. “I’m so sorry,” he wept, their pain compounding his own. He felt the wave of grief wash over him, and knew he was once again caught in its undertow. Each moment of overwhelm over the last two weeks had threatened his equilibrium, and in some cases even his sanity.

He felt Jack’s concern before he sensed his presence. Rory and Amy had released him, and he felt himself wrapped in Jack’s arms, the now familiar pleasure/pain of the scruffing of his shoulder bringing him back from the chaos that he was otherwise defenseless against. He felt self-conscious, being scruffed in front of everyone, but it was as much Jack’s fear as his own overwhelm that dictated it, and he didn’t begrudge his mate the comfort that they both derived from the act.

“Stupid hormones,” he groused as Jack released him from the bite and he stepped out of the embrace. He wiped at his tears and then blew his nose with the tissue Tosh handed him. He heard the distinctive sound of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver scanning him, once again.

More composed, he took Jack’s hand as they looked once more at Gwen. Their bond allowed Ianto to feel Jack’s grief and loss, and to finally understand that Jack’s feelings for Gwen had never been a real threat to their bond. He had trusted in that for a long time, but the image of Jack’s arm around her as Ianto endured the miscarriage had done a great deal of damage. Now he could trust, once more.

It felt very healing.

***

Owen and Rory saw to moving Gwen’s body to permanent storage. Once he had Ianto back on the sofa, Jack turned to Toshiko. “What did you tell Rhys?”

Tosh shrugged a shoulder. “That she died in the line of duty.” She looked at Jack, uncertain. “We didn’t think he needed to know about all the things she’d done.” Jack nodded, having overheard Owen’s explanation about the abortive compound from where he and the Doctor had been observing everyone.

“I think that was the right call,” he smiled gently at her. “No point in adding to Rhys’ grief.” He looked around. “What else did we miss?”

“Well, being down three operatives, we managed to conscript three time traveling lunatics into our ranks. Four, counting Martha,” Owen smirked, then grew serious. “Jack, some things happened…”

He went on to explain that they had been called out to a remote warehouse to investigate an alien sighting, but what was showing up as alien life forms on Tosh’s PDA showed up on the Doctor’s sonic as explosives.

“We stayed away as the building blew and caught John Hart as he tried to steal the SUV,” Tosh added.

“Hart?” Jack asked, startled. He felt Ianto tense, beside him.

“He had a bomb strapped to his vortex manipulator, which was forcing him to carry out some unsavory acts,” the Doctor chimed in. “I was able to disable the bomb and repair the wrist strap, and then I went with him to disarm all of the bombs he had planted, across the city.”

“What?” Jack looked confused. “Who was forcing him to do those things?”

Martha took Jack’s hand. “It was your brother, Jack. Hart found Gray. Thought he’d rescued him, but…”

“The things those creatures did to him, Jack,” the Doctor sighed. “I am sorry, but the damage they did was horrific. His only escape from their torture and torment was to focus on you as the reason for his suffering. He got the better of Hart and came here to seek his revenge.”

“It _was_ my fault,” Jack nodded miserably.

“Nonsense, Jack,” Ianto wrapped his arms around his mate, sending every reassurance he knew to send along their bond. “You were a child. As was he. But you were not to blame – those creatures were.”

Jack sniffed, then leaned into Ianto’s embrace. After a moment, he asked, “What happened?”

“He released a bunch of weevils into the city, and caused some other mischief, but when he showed up here to capture you, he didn’t realize that you weren’t around or that Hart was no longer his puppet. He locked the Doctor and Amy and Hart in the cells, and then tried to shoot Tosh, but Rory slipped his sling and put his gladius to good use.”

Jack felt his heart drop. “So he’s dead?”

“No,” Owen replied. “I patched him up and we put him in one of the cryo units. The Doctor has offered to take him somewhere to see if he can be deprogrammed.”

“No promises, Jack,” the Doctor grasped his shoulder. “But there’s a facility called the Asylum in the sixty-seventh century that I think may be able to help him.”

Jack nodded, feeling relieved. He and Ianto followed the Doctor and Owen down to the vaults so Jack could have a look at his brother. He looked so peaceful that Jack had a difficult time believing he had been such a menace. But he knew all too well that it was only the Doctor’s presence that had averted disaster – for Cardiff and Torchwood!

“And Hart?”

“Ran him out of town,” Owen smirked. “The Doctor is pretty good at terrifying threats.”

***

Owen and the Doctor led Ianto down into the med-bay. Martha observed from the rail at the top of the steps, where Jack leaned, watching his mate like a hawk.

“He’ll be all right,” Martha said, trying to keep her voice teasing and light.

“Yeah,” Jack admitted. “But it’s too soon not to worry, you know?”

“I understand,” she said.

She hissed as Ianto took off his shirt, showing just how much he had needed Jack’s support during the last two weeks. Both shoulders were bruised and bloody from the number of times Jack had scruffed him as he grieved. His mark was still raw, simply because Jack couldn’t keep away from it. Even now, the sight of it made him twitch, wanting to race down the steps and lave the wound before biting into it, again.

“You stay where you are, Harkness,” Owen shouted, as though having read his thoughts. “You two are way too twitchy,” he muttered.

“They’ll likely stay that way for some few hundred thousand years,” the Doctor speculated. “Likely more. We’re talking about the rest of time, so the so-called honeymoon phase is going to last for quite a long while, to establish a bond that will stand the test of that much time.”

What no one could see was where Ianto had been scruffing Jack, as well. The bites made to comfort the alpha in his grief and despair. But what could be seen, the next time Jack removed his shirt in front of the team, was where Ianto had marked Jack.

It was unusual, but not unheard of, for an alpha to be marked by his or her omega. Rory carried Amy’s mark, after all. But it was a rare thing. And that Jack’s healing factor did not eradicate it pleased Ianto no end.

***


	15. Chapter 15

It took Ianto’s body another month to heal from the miscarriage. The Doctor worked to repair the damage from both rejections, as well as to detox the omega from the abortive compound in his system. No one wanted to take any chances that he would suffer any side effects similar to those that had taken Gwen from them.

Soon after the Doctor left them, the earth was hijacked and they found themselves fighting Daleks with a younger version of the Time Lord. Ianto tried not to think too closely on the ins and outs of time travel – he was sure it would do his head in.

The benefit of the earth moving and then being moved back was that they found themselves with several new recruits, and a few new allies, besides. Martha and Mickey joined their ranks, and Sarah Jane Smith became a great resource. Donna Noble was also brought on board, and she upped sticks and moved her mother and grandfather to Cardiff, with her. Wilf became an honorary member of Torchwood, manning the tourist office when they needed an extra hand.

Jack had already recruited Andy Davidson to replace Gwen’s police liaison position. He offered Rhys a job, as well. Everyone was able to keep the truth of Gwen’s betrayals from him, and the team seemed to solidify around Jack and Ianto’s leadership.

Six months passed before there was a noticeable change in Ianto’s healing factor. It was put to the test as aliens threatened the planet’s children. Some idiots tried to shoot Jack at the A&E, but Mickey and Owen had tagged along and the team had far more intel by the end of the day than those hoping to blow up the hub did.

It was down to Toshiko’s and Owen’s combined brilliance, finding a way to mimic the brain chemistry of the children in carrying the signal back to the aliens and destroying the threat before the idiots in charge could jeopardize the children they were meant to protect.

Unfortunately, Jack and Ianto had to go to Thames House to try to stall all parties, aliens and idiots alike, in order to buy Owen and Tosh the time they needed to be ready for their counterstrike. Thankfully, they’d had the foresight to clear the building, so they were the only ones gassed. Jack revived within the hour, but it took almost seven Ianto to follow suit.

Martha actually had a call in to the Doctor because the team was unsure what to do with Jack. He had been frantic and beside himself with fear that Ianto would not revive after all, and frankly they were afraid for his stability, if his fears turned out to be legitimate.

Ianto’s revival was met with joy and relief, for more than one reason.

***

A letter Jack had received in 1938 had not made any sense at all until he met the senders seventy years later, but he had shared it with Ianto, to be sure they had the appointment set in their diaries. So in the late summer of 2012, they recruited a certain pair of Ponds to Torchwood before they could take the Doctor up on his offer to go to Manhattan on holiday.

They were able to avert a paradox by making a note in the archives to recruit the Ponds, destroying the letter, and asking an older version of the Doctor to remove their memories of the letter.

The work still held its dangers, but the teams were now large enough to handle them with less risk. Still, it took another decade for Jack to be able to broach the subject of a baby without Ianto walking out of the room, disappearing for days on end, serving decaf for a week when he returned, and withholding sex for a month, complete.

It was to Jack’s credit that he kept trying. Even after Ianto stopped walking out, it took a few years to get him to consider it. But Jack persevered, and though that first pregnancy was fraught with fear, Ianto did, as well. And while Owen’s wish to deliver a Torchwood baben had been fulfilled several times over by now (including two of his own), this one was particularly close to his heart.

Twenty years after the horrible betrayal that had almost cost them their bond, Ianto delivered a beautiful alpha baby girl who they named Analise Rose. Ana represented the first of their families. They had decided that – barring any accidents (which did tend to happen, down through the ages) – they would have two-child families and raise them, and then follow their descendants. It was too painful to do this more than every few centuries, but they cherished each family that they created.

Time may have clouded their memories (thank God for data recorders and memory keepers), but not their love. They passed through the ages together, loving the friends they made and the families they created. There were adventures and there was boredom, but as the TARDIS predicted, their bond held more joy than sorrow. Their bond was strong and true, and they were barely greying at the temples when they fulfilled their first and most cherished promise to one another, making love even as the last star went out.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, along the way. I've enjoyed this one, though there was so much angst and sorrow. I like to write about healing, so inevitably that means my stories are generally angsty as hell, in order to get to the healing part.
> 
> I know I took some liberties with the a/b/o dynamics, but hopefully it all worked out.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


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